Ice Cream We all Scream for Ice Cream
by Beyondtoday
Summary: #6 Ice Cream We all Scream for Ice Cream in the "New Mission" series. Complaints abound as the temperature on the ship becomes very uncomfortable.


15

#6 Ice Cream, We all scream for Ice Cream

The long voyage ahead of them had the Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock planning daily drills. He had not been happy with the last group of response times. Less than eighty five percent efficiency was not acceptable.

He met with his senior officers in the briefing room. All department heads reported and no one was pleased with the response times. Lethargy had set in and there was no apparent reason.

"I'm not sure, Jim what the problem is, we've only been in space for two months. I've no reports of depression, sleeplessness or the normal things you would expect to coincide with this lethargy." Dr. McCoy commented.

The Captain asked of the group, "What are you hearing? Is there an unknown problem we're not aware of?"

All the officers shrugged and none of the department heads

had any suggestions.

"Well, gentlemen keep you ears open and inform me if you find out anything. Bones you may have to run a periodic mental health check."

"I'll keep you posted, Jim."

The officers left except for Spock.

"Spock, this has me stymied. The last response times were worse than a week ago."

"Yes, I've even seen it in the gym and pool. Jim, something is affecting the crew."

"Do you think it's the atmosphere, the new food, the uniforms?"

"Jim, I hardly think clothing is the cause, but it would be wise for Mr. Scott to run a purification test on the atmosphere and I will have my science labs run a full diagnostic on the food service."

"It's a place to start, thank you, Spock. How are your morning jousting lessons going with Lucas?"

"He has not been seriously injured, Jim, and he is beginning to learn a few more of the steps. Mr. Sulu is waiting in the wings to take over for me. His discipline is improving and I will begin with Ensign Michael Cooley next week."

"I miss our morning judo matches, when will you be freed up?"

"Soon, Jim and we'll see how much you have forgotten."

"Why, Spock, are you trying to needle me?"

"Needle, Jim?"

"Yes, provoke me?"

Silence and a raised eyebrow was his response.

The Captain had Mr. Scott immediately run a 24 hour purification test of the air through out the ship. He was on the bridge when the report came in.

Mr. Scott came to the bridge. "Captain, we've run the test for over twenty four hours and it is as clean as mountain air. The oxygen content is at the proper settings and slightly lowered in the cabins for those wishing to control it." He glanced at Mr. Spock. "We find nothing out of the ordinary, sir."

"Thank you, Mr. Scott, carry on."

"Spock, any word from the lab?"

"No, Captain, it is taking longer because of all the new selections we have installed in the food service. I just talked with Lt. Granger and he assures me they are close to coming to an end. So far nothing has turned up."

"Thank you, Spock. I'm going to see if McCoy has found anything new."

"Aye, sir."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"No, Jim, I can't trace it to anything. I have seen quite a few of the new cadets complaining of being tired. Scotty gave an all clear on the atmosphere, what has Spock found out?"

"They're almost finish testing the food service. We've added more to the selection and it takes time to go through everything. You'll know as soon as we do. Heading off to my quarters. Good night, Bones."

"Good night."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Anastasia was in the science lab helping to run tests on the food. "Lt. Granger, it's been a long day. These dishes have to sit overnight, may I suggest we call it a night. It's 0200 hours."

"Yes, Doctor, we've done all we can for the day. Thank you for your help."

"Yes, sir, my pleasure. Good night."

Anastasia did a walk through sick bay and grabbed some tea to take to the observation room. She loved sitting with the stars to wind down. She pulled up a lounge chair and sipped her tea. Her thoughts went to the lab, going over every step of the procedure.

"Ahem," went a deep voice. She turned to see Mr. Spock.

"Commander, Father, how are you tonight?" she used his new name for the first time in weeks.

"Anastasia, I am well. May I join you?"

"Sure, can I fix you some tea? I have a pot brewing right here?"

"Yes, thank you."

They both sipped their tea and leaned back in the chairs to enjoy the view.

"How are the tests going?"

"The last of the food is being tested and tomorrow we will be done. I don't know whether to hope we find something or not. I've felt sluggish, too. What about you?"

"No, I have found no effect."

"Neither has SJ." In the darkened room she glanced over at her father in-law. "Father?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind if I ask you some questions about SJ's childhood?"

"No, proceed."

"What was his mother like?"

Spock looked out at the stars and said, "She was very kind and quiet. Although she wasn't a telepath, she had a gift to know when someone was troubled and was just there for them. She was extremely intelligent and enjoyed life as if each day was her last. She loved SJ, but did find it difficult to live on Vulcan and chose to go back home to Earth when I was sent into space."

"Was it hard for you to be separated from them?"

"It was my duty."

"Did SJ want to come with you and not go to his grandparents after she passed away?"

"We were strangers, the two of us. I was gone for most of his first four years," he paused, "it was regrettable. We had no choice. On Vulcan it is not unusual for other family members to raise children of parents who can not be on Vulcan."

Anastasia poured him more tea, "Father, I hope you know that he is proud to be your son. After he was on the bridge and observing the asteroid belt as it was pulled down to the planet, he talked non-stop about all the things he had seen, and how happy he was to have experienced it with you."

Spock did not respond at first, "There were many young scientists on the bridge that day who were excited, also."

Anastasia sat up from her chair and swing her legs around so she could face him. Sternly she said, "Father, did you not hear me?"

"My hearing is quite excellent, Anastasia."

She sighed and said, "It was more important to him that you two shared the experience."

Spock drank the last of his tea, "I see."

"Good night, Father," she said quietly.

"Good night, Anastasia." He always had to have his emotional blocks up when around, Anastasia, she could be quite affectionate.

Spock remained.

Lt. George Granger and three of the biologist could not sleep well, again. They were in the lab by 0600 hours.

"Would you look at that," Lt. Granger said. Several of the petri dishes had grown bacteria.

"I bet if we were to check all of the ice cream flavors we will find the same thing," he said.

"What is that?" Lt. John Summers asked.

"Take those samples and see what you can find, John. I want to know what it is before we inform, Mr. Spock."

After several hours of checking and rechecking the data, the biologists were happy with their conclusion and called Mr. Spock.

"Lt. Granger to Commander Spock," he called over the intercom.

"Yes, Lt. Granger,"

"Sir, we believe we have found the answer to why everyone is so sluggish."

"On my way."

Spock glanced at the Captain and he was already headed to the turbo lift.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The biologists waited for the Captain and the Commander to arrive. Lt. Granger read over the report and was pleased with their findings.

They all stood as the officers came into the lab.

Spock said, "Captain, this is Lieutenants' Granger, Summers and Ensigns Roberts, Koviak and Tonga."

"Gentlemen, ladies." the Captain nodded, "what have you found?"

Lt. Granger began, "Captain, we have found a bacteria growing in all of the flavors of ice cream. After examining the bacteria we found a common ingredient used in all the flavors. It is similar to what you would find in a sleeping pill. I believe they were using it as a preservative or flavor enhancer. Starfleet increased the choices of ice cream from three to twenty eight different flavors. I checked with food services and in the past few months the crew has gone through 892 gallons of ice cream, sir."

The Captain asked, "The crew has eaten that much ice cream in over two months time?"

"Yes, sir, but it's the ingredient that food services used from Earth that is harmful. I suggest informing them immediately and that we should remove whatever ice cream we have left."

Kirk looked at Spock as he stood with his arms behind his back, "Captain, Vulcans do not eat ice cream, but this seems to be a huge amount to consume in this short of time."

"Well, Spock, Humans do love their ice cream."

"Indeed," he replied.

"Alright, Lieutenant, inform food services that I order the rest of the ice cream to be removed. Mr. Spock will you inform Starfleet of our findings?"

"Yes, Captain, right away."

"Well done, gentlemen and ladies" the Captain said.

"Thank you, sir," they responded.

Lt. Granger looked at Mr. Spock who nodded his agreement.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Captain, Mr. Spock, Mr. Scott and Dr. McCoy met in the briefing room going over the possible drills they had scheduled.

"Captain, I have an idea what will take the crews mind off of no more ice cream," Mr. Scott said.

"Go ahead."

"Now that we have these new uniforms with built in temperature gages that work much better than the old ones, I'd like to rig a series of interruptions in the heating system of the ship. I could bring the temperature down to almost 59 degrees. I can rig it, sir, that as soon as one interruption is found another one would be triggered further down the line. It would keep the electricians and my engineers busy through out the day. Can you imagine the peer pressure they'll be under?"

Captain Kirk chuckled, "I like how you think, Scotty. Bones, how will this affect their health?"

"The only thing it will affect is the amount of uniforms being sent to laundry. They'll be sleeping in one and working in another," he answered.

"Spock, any questions?"

"No, Captain, I know where the extra blankets are in my cabin."

Bones stood to leave and said, "You'll just have to snuggle up to Christine to keep warm."

"As usual, Dr. McCoy, if and who I snuggle with is private."

Scotty laughed and said, "Aw, Doctor, you've been put in your proper place."

McCoy just laughed all the harder as they left the room.

Kirk shook his head and looked at his first officer, "Don't fret, Spock, Christine may like it."

"Jim, why is it that women's feet are ten degrees colder than the rest of their body?"

Kirk smiled and said, "Sorry, Spock, it's just a feature of being female. Does she lay her feet on your legs or back to warm up?" he continued to laugh.

Spock looked at his friend and asked, "Why was none of this brought to my attention before our wedding?"

Kirk wiped tears from his eyes he was laughing so hard.

"I don't think it's grounds for divorce though, Spock."

"Jim, you are finding too much pleasure in this."

"Sorry my friend, Miriam was the same way. I hated it when she put her feet on me, but I'd give anything to have her cold feet back."

Spock nodded his head, "I wish she were here for you, too, Jim."

Kirk smiled and said, "Come on, Spock, let's go find our thickest blankets for tonight."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

During the night most of the crew woke up to chillier temperatures than when they first fell asleep. Calls were coming into maintenance and frustrated electricians were running from section to section trying to trace the malfunction.

Mr. Scott was finally awaken from his deep slumber with a call from his crew. "Now have ye tried to start from engineering and run the scanner all the way through the system?"

"Yes, sir, but we've been looking for hours and can not trace it."

"Good, I mean I'm glad you've started at the beginning. Send a crew to the electrical boxes on deck twenty-four. I'll meet you there shortly."

"Aye, sir."

Scotty pulled up his double blankets and fell back asleep for another hour.

The crews that were scheduled for morning shift gathered in the various mess halls eating warm food and drinking coffee and hot chocolate.

Lt. Uhura blew on her hands and said to Sulu, "Have you seen Mr. Scott this morning?"

"No, I heard they paged him around 0400. He's yet to show up"

"Oh darlin', he's probably climbing through one of the tunnels checking every connection along the way himself," Uhura said defending Scotty.

Mr. Scott had taken a hot shower and pulled on a clean uniform. He had coffee in his quarters and took a slow stroll to engineering. He monitored the progress of the electricians. They were closing in on the first interruption he had rigged. He felt the heat blow on for a short ten seconds and then cool air again.

He laughed to himself and said, "Things are going along as planned."

He received a call from his assistant chief engineer, "Mr. Scott, we found one connection that had misfired, but we blew another line."

"Well, don't stand there yapping about it, send your crews further up the line. I don't want to get a call from the Captain, saying he's in sick bay with frost bite."

"Yes, sir."

The deep freeze held on throughout the day. By evening members of the crew were calling maintenance and leaving colorful descriptions of what would happen if the heat wasn't turned on shortly.

The Captain finally made an announcement, "This is the Captain. I'm sure you've noticed we're having some problems with the heat on board. I assure you Mr. Scott's crew are working around the clock. I suggest you drink hot fluids and stay as warm as you can. Captain out."

He glanced at his first officer who in turn raised an eyebrow.

"Mr. Spock, I'm sure Mr. Scott will be very busy through the night. I'll take the night shift and you can relieve me later."

"Thank you, Captain. I think I will get something hot to drink."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Crewmen throughout the ship ran through the halls just to work up some body heat. Mr. Spock knew Christine was getting off shift and would meet him in their quarters for a hot meal.

Their room was quite chilly, but Christine was already warming up some hot soup.

"Come here, Spock and wrap me in your arms, I am so cold."

He smiled and held her for a short time, "Is dinner ready, My Wife," He rubbed her arms up and down.

"Yes, I'm just brewing your tea. Does Scotty know how long this is going to last?"

"I can assume he has no idea since they can not find the source of the problem."

"Have a seat, dear. I'll get our food."

Spock pulled out trays from the couch. They sat close to each other with a blanket wrapped around their backs. "Turn up the temperature on your uniform, Christine, your finger tips are blue."

"I'll be alright as soon as I eat something warm."

"Any illnesses from the crew?" he asked.

"No, just a lot of complaining in the mess hall. I think I drank a gallon of hot tea myself today. We can snuggle close when we go to bed tonight." She looked up into his brown eyes and he hid his reaction by kissing her.

"At least your lips are warm," he said.

She smiled and finished her meal.

He helped her clear the dishes. She turned on some music and he walked up behind her. He put his arms around her and kissed her neck.

She turned into his arms and they slowly swayed to the music. She rubbed his back with her hands to warm him up. She laid her head on his chest and felt his muscles move as he rubbed her arms and then her back. She felt the most comfort and security in his arms than anywhere else.

She laughed and said, "I wonder how many couples will be keeping warm together tonight?"

"I know of one couple."

She reached up and kissed him and said, "I'll even wear your warm socks to bed so I don't get my cold feet on your legs."

"I would really appreciate that, My Wife."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Spock woke from his three hours of required sleep. Mr. Scott still had his officers running through the halls trying to locate the problem. Spock had dressed and walked down to the observation deck of sick bay and found some of Anastasia's tea and fixed a pot.

He heard the door slide open and turned to see his daughter in-law coming in.

"Hello, Father, I see you have our tea going?"

"Yes, I wasn't sure what shift you were on, but I will be going to the bridge soon."

He handed her a cup of her private mixture. "Let's sit at the window," she said.

In the quiet of the room they sat with their private thoughts. The warm tea felt good on cold muscles.

"Father, have you heard from Mr. Scott yet?"

"I'm sure he'll find the problem soon. Anastasia, I wish you would share with me your recipe for this tea. It is very refreshing."

"Now, Father, if I shared it with you, you would not have a reason to come visit me. I would miss our quiet talks."

"Young lady, I will always find a reason to visit with you and my son. How is SJ, I haven't seen him in awhile?"

"Right now he's sound asleep in his uniform," she laughed. "I don't mind the cold while I'm sleeping, I just hate getting out of bed and it being so cold."

"Thank you for the tea, I'll take another cup with me," he said as he stood.

She stood and hugged him briefly, "I hope Mr. Scott corrects the problem soon."

"Have a good shift, Ana."

By late morning the final interruption in service was located. The electricians were sent to their quarters where they slept for twelve hours.

No one complained of missing their ice cream.


End file.
